Cells
by Lain Fyrs
Summary: Sephiroth was gone, the clones hidden away and Cloud and the others beginning to find some peace. But nothing was ever that way for Gaia's champion. Jenova was a threat to the planet, and her cells still lived inside him.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Sephiroth was gone, the clones hidden away and Cloud and the others beginning to find some peace. But nothing was ever that way for Gaia's champion. Jenova was a threat to the planet, and her cells still lived inside him.**

**Warning! This story will contain yaoi! That means boy on boy action. Please do not read if you do not like it or really should not be reading it. You will be warned before hand should the chapters contain explicit scenes.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any of its characters. If I did, most of you would not have been old enough to buy it.**

The planet wanted it dead.

Even after the main body had been destroyed, and it's main force sucked away into the lifestream, it wanted every trace of its existence to disappear from the surface.

Most of all, it wanted him dead.

Cloud Strife trudged into the back entrance of the Seventh Heaven, mud and grime caked on his boots. Throughout the dark entranceway a loud crash was heard as he dropped his delivery bag on the tile floor, it's contents breaking. He didn't care, he just wanted to close his eyes and let the day end.

The black rooms stared back at him, outlines of chairs and tables reminding him of the things he had seen on his last delivery. He shook his head, reminding himself to stop thinking about it. He pulled off the dirty boots and dumped them in a corner, not bothering to clean them up. An old coat was flung onto a chair, before falling onto the floor. He stared at it, exhausted.

Walking into the hallway, he tensed as his overworked body protested his every move. He looked into the empty bar, checking to see if its owner was waiting around for him. Checking the clock, he saw that it was well past midnight, and was glad that she had decided to go to bed.

He silently climbed the stairwell, gripping the rail as his tired muscles threatened to give up on him. Stopping at the landing, he turned his blond head to look in the nearest door, allowing a tired smile to grace his face as he saw two small hills in the beds, sleeping soundly.

"Late night, Cloud?" A sleepy voice called from the opposite doorway. Long brown hair falling to one side, Tifa Lockheart leaned against the door, rubbing her eyes. He nodded and walked over towards the far staircase. "What happened this time?" She asked, her voice more steady. He could feel brown eyes staring at him as he began up the steps. He sighed, reaching the top. "The same thing as last time." Eyes widened and her mouth tightened. "Again…" She whispered, shaking her head. He could understand why she was concerned. "Go to back to bed Tifa." He walked into his room. "We'll talk about it in the morning." He nodded to her and closed his door.

Cloud finally allowed his muscles to relax, and collapsed as he slid down the door. Tired arms stripped him of his clothes and tired legs barely managed to drag him to the bed. He fell onto the bed, closing his eyes as the day's events flashed through his mind.

He'd gotten a call from Reno telling him that the settlement around the old Modeoheim labs was under attack, and that they needed him to help get everyone out. They couldn't tell what had happened or what was attacking them, but only that they'd gone straight for the laboratories hidden under the town.

They got there too late.

The things, whatever they had been, demolished the town. The entire area covering the old labs had been ripped up. Anything above it was dealt with; let it be a house or a person. Tseng noted that whatever they were after was in the underground area, and the fact that there was living beings above it meant nothing to them.

"This must have been an organized attack." Reeve told them later when they relayed the information to him. "A monster would have just attacked the people and stolen food. It probably would not have even ever known about the labs. Someone wanted something that was still in there."

This was the second of this kind of attack. Several weeks before Modeoheim, he had gone up towards Cosmo Canyon to deliver medical supplies for the elderly people living there. In the end he needed to run back to get enough for the entire populace.

The people claimed that in the middle of the night, strange noises were heard from the Shinra building. Men had gone out to see what was happening, but never returned. An explosion caused by whatever was happening attracted more citizens, but none who saw who or what was there was alive to say. The townspeople told stories of large beings walking through the village afterwards and destroying houses, but none could say what they were.

Cloud sighed. Rubbing his temples as he tried to figure out what was going on, he thought about the fact that stuck out to him most. Both attacks had been focused on a Shinra building, and both had laboratories and storage areas carrying experiments. Whatever was attacking was destroying and burning specific ones and those around them. There was some connection between all the destroyed articles, but he couldn't remember. The shriveled remains of one of the experiments at Modeoheim reminded him eerily of the ones in Nibelheim, back in the reactor.

He sighed again, brushing that thought from his head. Remembering home was not going to help at all. He instead rolled over and fell into a troubled sleep, filled with images of mako-filled tubes and green eyes.

**- To be Continued**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any of its characters. If I did….. Tifa most likely would not have had such big boobs.**

Tifa watched him walk down the staircase, looking very tired. She knew that was to be expected, seeing how late he had returned from deliveries. Shaking her head, she put a pot of coffee on the stove, pulling down cups and saucers.

She was concerned. Very concerned.

Cloud had told her that the same thing had happened at Modeoheim. That meant that whatever had attacked the canyon had aimed for the labs. She knew that anything to do with Shinra tended to attract strange visitors, but all both of the facilities were abandoned. A terrorist group wouldn't bother to attack a place that didn't have officers or scientists to question. She would know, she had been a part of one.

'Empty labs huh..' She thought to herself. The deserted one back home under the mansion flashed in her head. She sighed to herself.

Dilly dally shilly shally.

She really needed to move on.

Cloud gratefully took the cup offered to him, snatching a pile of sugar packets and dumping them in. His friend shook her head, chuckling lightly at his strange tastes. He sipped slowly, relaxing as the warmth seeped through his veins.

Tifa sat across the table from him, drinking her own coffee. They stayed like that in silence for a few minutes, before he noticed how quiet their home was. "Where are Denzel and Marlene?"

She didn't reply right away, immersed in her own thoughts. He panicked for a second, thinking that they had run off without her noticing. "Marlene is with some of the ladies down the street, trying to grow some trees and flowers to brighten up Edge." He calmed slightly, glad to know that she was nearby.

"What about Denzel?"

She didn't reply again, making him worry, before she cracked a smile. "Geologically, I have no idea." She shrugged, setting down her cup. "Cid took him out on the Shera. They could be halfway to Wutai for all I know." He smiled slightly at that.

"Cloud, what happened exactly yesterday?"

He narrowed his blue eyes, taking a long drink before placing it on the table, sighing.

"It's pretty much just as I said last night. Whatever attacked them was going after the labs. They ripped open the ground and exposed the entire thing. They burned a large amount of the specimens and destroyed all the experiments. Reeve is certain that it's an organized group that is doing it."

Tifa stayed silent for a while, her thoughts going back to what she had learned from being in AVALANCH.

"And the people there?"

He shook his blond head. She knew that whatever was attacking didn't care for the lives of people.

"..I don't think that it's a group that's doing this."

Cloud shook his head. "A monster couldn't have known about the labs. In Cosmo Canyon they didn't attack the people unless they came too close." "Yes, but a group would normally go after occupied ones. That way they could capture workers and question them." She took a sip of coffee. "That's what we used to do."

He realized then that Tifa had put a lot of thought into this. It began to make sense to him. Whatever was attacking was after something inside the labs.

"Oh fuck. We've been looking in the wrong places again." He slumped back into his chair. "Whatever they were after was those experiments and specimens that they destroyed." She agreed, eyes widening. "Can anyone find out what each of them was originally?" He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, thinking of old Shinra records he had seen. "I can ask Reeve and Rufus, and I bet Tseng will have some hidden knowledge he could share with me. Maybe even Vincent. He was in those labs long enough to know everything."

She nodded. Standing up, she collected the cups and brought them towards the sink, thinking of other Shinra related places.

A crash brought Cloud's attention back. He stood up to see Tifa looking back at him, a hand pressed to her mouth. "Cosmo Canyon and Modeoheim were the only settlements nearby old Shinra areas right?" He nodded, not catching on. She put down the other cup, suddenly looking very scared. "What about all the other empty ones? How do we know that they haven't been raided as well?"

He realized what she meant. Floating experiments in the reactor in Nibelheim went through his mind. He ran to the hallway snatching his boots and jacket. His friend followed him, clearly meaning to come along.

"Tifa, you stay here and try to contact Cid. Tell him to get back here ASAP. He needs to go to the remote labs and offices to see if they've already been breached." She nodded running back to grab the phone. "See if you can get everyone else to the nearest one as well, or back here. I'll go to Shinra and Reeve to get as much information on the locations and the kinds of specimens being held at each."

He almost ran out the door, quickly getting on Fenrir and heading towards Healen.

Tifa called Cid, annoyed to find that he was in fact, actually halfway to Wutai. He quickly agreed to heading all the way to the mainland to check the Shinra outpost, and then would immediately head towards the coast labs.

She sat down, trying to absorb everything that had just happened. She couldn't help but worry about Denzel. If the Shera arrived at one of the locations and there was whatever was attacking, he could be in serious danger. Not that she doubted Cid's abilities, but the ship couldn't protect them from everything. She reminded herself that Edge had been cleaned completely of Shinra related items, which meant that for now, they were safe. So long as Marlene wasn't too close to Midgar itself, she would be fine as well.

She sighed again, picking up the phone to call Yuffie.

**-To Be Continued**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Replies to the comments from non-users:**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any of its characters. If I did, cross dressing Cloud would have made much more appearances.**

Cloud did not get along with Rufus Shinra. That much was apparent.

The blonds sat facing each other, a pile of unorganized files between them. The older was pretending to sort through them, ignoring the pissed off SOLDIER. He looked up, watching as the man tapped his foot impatiently, visibly willing for the papers to disappear.

He smiled, looking up towards to clock. It was well past noon, both of them sitting there for hours. Finally placing the sheets down, he looked directly at the other. "What is that you want, Strife?" He asked lazily, leaning back into his chair. "I trust that it isn't to re-join us?"

Cloud scowled, he really didn't like Shinra. "I need some information." The older man raised an eyebrow, laughing slightly. "Well I have lots of information, but you would have to be more specific, because I doubt that you would want any kind." He had to resist the urge to kill the president.

"I need the information on all the experiments and specimens that were destroyed in the attacks." He told him, crossing his arms and staring firmly across the table. "I also need the locations of all the other abandoned laboratories." Rufus narrowed his eyes, wondering why the once experiment was so interested in the places he hated most. He shook his head, and then reached to a corner of the desk to press a red button.

"I don't have the time to give you those. My time is used for much more, important things." He motioned to the Wutaian that walked silently into the room. "Go with Tseng and he'll find whatever it is that you need. Don't come back to me unless it involves my company." With that he turned his chair to look out the window, signaling that the meeting was over.

He nodded curtly and followed the Turk out of the room, noticing irritably that the papers were just as unorganized as when he entered.

"Tseng, I need files on everything that was destroyed at the labs, along with the locations of the other abandoned facilities." The dark haired man sat at a computer and began to pull up files, sending them to the printer. Ending his search, he looked at the blond, motioning for him to sit down.

"I will assume that you will also want background information on the subjects held at the laboratories. But I don't believe you will find anything. Nothing of importance was left unguarded."

Cloud shook his head. "It's not that." Brown eyes widened in mild curiosity. "No terrorist group would go after a non-staffed Shinra facility. They would take scientists and workers prisoner and question them. Whatever they were after was in the labs, and was probably those things that were destroyed. If there is something that they are after that all of the experiments had in common, they'll go after the rest of them too." Tseng nodded in agreement, pulling up more pages and printing them off. "I will send my Turks to some of the locations, along with the information I will give you. Should any of them be destroyed, we will see if the destroyed subjects are related in any way to the others."

Blue eyes closed in relief. "Thanks, this will help out a lot." The Turk put the files into a folder, passing them over to the young man. "Avoid the Nibelheim and Northern Cave laboratories; they are not safe for humans anymore. And I'm sure you don't want to go anywhere near there."

Cloud nodded slowly, remembering green eyes and a flashing sword. He pushed the images out of his head, thanking the man and leaving the room.

Tseng immediately looked back at the file he had noticed before. He scrolled down the page, taking into account all the numbers of the destroyed subjects. There were too many of them from this single project. Picking up the phone, he began to dial Reno's cell.

"Yo." A bored voice drifted through the line. "What's up boss-man?"

"Reno, gather up the others and send them to the locations I'm mailing to you. If any of them have been attacked, record the subjects that have been destroyed. I need you to check on all the code numbers on the list I'm sending as well, understood?"

"Righty-o boss." A click was heard and the line died.

The Wutaian sighed and glanced back to the screen. Pushing the mouse back to the scrolling bar, he went back to the top of the file. His brown eyes widened as he looked at the name of the project.

Cloud sat down on his bed flipping through the files that Tseng had given him.

Looking through rosters he saw no connections between the experiments besides locations and in some cases, dates of completion or failure. He sighed and tossed the folder to the edge of the bed, laying back on the side he was on.

Tifa had gone off with Yuffie to check the western labs, and Barret was on his way to the ones down South. They had told him to wait at the bar so that he could run out and help if there was a problem. Cid called shortly after, reporting that the one in Wutai was fine, and that he'd jot down all the specimen codes. Denzel was fine staying with him.

Marlene had dropped in just after Tifa had left, to tell him that she was going to stay out for a little longer to keep planting, and that she'd be home after dinner. He was slightly disappointed that she didn't stay with him, she was good company.

He groaned and kicked his legs up, rolling his eyes as several pages were sent flying across the room.

Blue eyes glanced over to one that fell nearest to him, focusing on the project name. He rolled over and reached to pick the page up, noticing that it was a subject code list. Scanning down it, he began to grow excited as familiar names, the ones destroyed, lined up together.

Looking up at the project, he stood up suddenly, eyes growing very wide.

"No…. That… can't be."

Jenova.

**-To be Continued.**

**Yes, some things don't line up too well with the original storyline. Sorry!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**I'm very sorry for the longer wait! Exams at school have hit full-swing. Plus I'm a very lazy person.**

**Disclaimer: Ohhh how I wish I actually owned Final Fantasy or its characters. But I don't.**

Vincent Valentine had received the voice message two hours after it was recorded.

The usually emotionally neutral warrior had seemed quite shaken and excited over the phone, rambling on about something that sounded vaguely similar to experiments and cells. He could hardly understand what the man had said.

The only part could fully comprehend was the request to head to the Seventh Heaven to talk to him. Whatever was going on was urgent, or Cloud would have never asked anything like that of him.

They sat in the kitchen, his blond head cupped in his hands. He didn't know how to explain what he had discovered.

The black haired man waited patiently for him, and he was grateful. Both of them had been subject to similar experiments, so surely he would understand his feelings.

Finally, the blond lifted his head up and sighed.

"I went to Tseng to find out any information about the experiments that were destroyed in the attacks." He told him. Vincent nodded, signaling for him to continue. "He gave me a folder with all the stats on the different ones, and one of the projects contained all of them."

"I am assuming that the project was one of concern." Cloud nodded, sighing again.

"It was the Jenova project."

Red eyes widened. He lost his usual composure and leaned back into his chair, shaking his head. "So it's Sephiroth again."

The blond shook his head, trying to explain his theory. "I doubt it. He's under her influence, and when anything with her cells dies, she feels it. My best guess is that this is someone, or more likely, something that is trying to remove her."

Vincent thought about the facts for a few minutes, sorting through different people that would do such a thing. "There aren't many people that are still alive that would even know of the existence of Jenova, or even the story of the calamity. It is most likely that these attacks are by people who want to remove evidence of the things Shinra did. That would mean it is ex-members of the company."

Cloud had already thought of that, but something didn't make sense.

"If so, they why did they harm other people?" He asked, but the other man didn't reply. He sagged in his chair. "Vincent, every time that something has had to do with Jenova, Shinra or _him_, it hasn't been as simple as this." He nodded in agreement.

"I just wish that we could spend the rest of our lives without all this."

Vincent chuckled, earning a questioning look. "That would mean that it would have to be that way forever." Cloud was confused for a second, before remembering Chaos sealed inside of his friend's body.

"Well, that wouldn't be bad at all would it?"

Tifa and Yuffie came back an hour after Vincent had left.

The young ninja entered by tackling the man in the kitchen, knocking them both to the floor. She then talked to him nonstop about materia and how much of a pain in the ass he was. The poor blond was rescued by the older woman, pulling the younger off of him and pushing her out the door.

She sighed, looking at her friend. Her dark eyes furrowed as she noticed that he looked even more tired than before.

Leaning on the counter, she recounted to him what had happened after she had left.

"We went over to the west labs. The first two were clear, but the third was as we feared." Cloud became more worried as she spoke. "It was like it was at Modeoheim and Cosmo Canyon, just worse. It didn't look like people had done it. There were claw marks everywhere and huge burns. I think I was right about monsters."

He looked at the table, trying to think of a kind of monster that would go after Jenova cells.

"Tifa, did you get the codes for the destroyed specimens?" She nodded and handed him a list. His heart sank as he recognized them from the project list.

"Did you find out anything about them?"

He smiled sadly. "Yeah, and you're not going to like it." The brunette's mouth thinned as he continued.

"They all had Jenova cells."

Tifa gasped.

"Not again."

They sat at the bar, trying to absorb the information that had been brought to them.

Barret reported that the South lab was completely obliterated. He said he didn't have to check for any of the codes, there was nothing left but ash and sand.

The one in Wutai was intact, but those along the coast looked as if they had been hit by a hurricane.

In other words, whatever was after Jenova was getting the job done fast.

Denzel and Marlene were upstairs, recounting their days to each other. They had both greeted Cloud happily when they arrived, but immediately noted how stressed and concerned the rest of the household seemed.

"Hey Denzel?"

The boy looked up from the book he was reading, to stare at the girl on the bed.

"What?"

She gripped her braid lightly, fiddling with the loose ends. "Where did you and Cid go?"

"We went to Wutai and stopped at this big old lab. Then we headed back and stopped at all these things that Cid said were until recently more labs."

"Recently?" She asked, wondering if this had something to do with the tense atmosphere down the stairs. Denzel nodded, thinking the same thing. "Yeah. When we saw it, he started swearing his head off and told me that we were cutting our trip short and heading back here. But I dunno what's going on"

Marlene shrugged, not knowing either.

"I bet she'd know."

She probably did, she knew. But if she had anything to do with it, then the one that had always hurt Tifa and Cloud probably was too.

"If she does, then she'll help Cloud. She always has."

She was part of the planet, and the planet loved Cloud, right?

**-To Be Continued.**

**Too short. Oh well. The next chapter is going to be much much longer and really start to move the story. **

**Thank you all for the comments and favorites!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Warning: This chapter will contain scenes of violence.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any of its characters.**

The city of Edge woke to the earth cracking open.

Cloud shot out from his bed, glancing around to find the source of his awakening.

He could hear glasses falling and crashing in the bar downstairs as a tremor shook the building, objects in his own room tipping over as Cloud watched. Someone screamed.

He ran to the door, opening it to see the rest of the group as confused as he was. Marlene looked up to him, scared and shivering. "Cloud, what's going on?" He shook his head, grasping the railing next to him as the ground moved.

Then just as quickly as it started, it stopped.

"Fucking hell."

They made their way down to the bar, each avoiding the glass on the floor. Cloud leaned against a table, pushing hair off his sweaty face. The kids came up to him and he pulled them up onto the elevated surface, keeping them away from the broken shards. Tifa carefully went behind the bar and picked up the phone, listening for a minute before putting it back down.

"No power. Anyone have a PHS?" she questioned, looking at the others. Cid reached into a pocket and tossed the device to her.

Yuffie sighed dramatically, lying down on the counter. "Jeeze, don't ever get a day off do we?" Vincent frowned pointedly at the ninja.

"That's what you get with us." Tifa tossed the PHS back to its owner, sitting down on a stool. "I can't get through to anyone. They must have all been affected by the quake." She rested her head in her hands, closing her eyes. The others all began to relax.

Cloud stood up and headed towards the back door, pulling on his jacket. "I'm going to go see if there was any major damage." He put on his boots, grasping his sword and heading out. Vincent and Barret followed.

Stepping out on the street, they watched other confused citizens glance out of doors and windows, looking to see whatever had caused the tremors.

Barret went over to help people who had fallen over, asking if anyone knew what had happened. Meanwhile, Vincent ran off to the city center, where there had been some substantial damage.

Cloud searched the empty streets, slowly heading towards the border between Edge and Midgar. He noted that there was more destruction the closer he got to Shinra.

He looked up to the collapsed giant of a building, eyes widening as a large shadow passed over it.

Then the structure fell.

The earth fell from beneath him, and Cloud was sent sprawling on the pavement. Cracks ran across the hard ground, making it break and make surrounding buildings collapse. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees, clinging to whatever he could to keep steady.

The tremors stopped momentarily, and Cloud took that as his chance to stand and run towards the shadow that was causing the earthquakes. As the ground began to move once more he jumped to a building, propelling himself onwards as the land below him became too dangerous to stay on.

An explosion shook the ruins, making large chunks of metal and stone fly out towards him. Cloud pulled out his sword and destroyed several that came his way, before landing close enough to the shadow.

He gasped as the light of a fire shone on the huge beast. "Oh Gaia…."

The WEAPON stood over 80 stories high, horned spikes making it look almost 100. It bent over the destroyed Shinra building and began to pull off large pieces, throwing them away. Letting out a high pitched scream, it burned whatever had been inside, the fire giving off a green, mako-tinged smoke.

Then it noticed Cloud.

It stared at him, groaning slightly. Cloud could hear the planet start to whisper throughout the lifestream, feeling it move throughout his being. He reached out to it, startled to find that it felt dangerous to him; as if it felt he was the enemy. The WEAPON shuddered, opening its mouth, giving him only a second before it shot a burst of energy at the SOLDIER.

Cloud swore loudly as the attack narrowly missed him. He turned to see a large clawed hand swing towards him, making him jump backwards several feet.

He gripped his sword tightly, swinging it into the WEAPON as it tried to hit him once more. The blade dug into the hard flesh, making a green fluid spray out. It screamed once more, pulling its injured hand back and let out another beam of energy at its attacker.

He charged at him, moving aside to dodge the dangerous light. Cloud thrust the sword into the arm of the monster, pulling it up and making more of the liquid spray out. The WEAPON flailed around trying to hit him, making more of the surrounding ground crack and break.

Cloud grunted when a claw grazed his side, warm blood beginning to pour from the wound. In turn he slammed the blade into the arm, smiling grimly as it went limp. Running up the arm he swung his sword into the WEAPON'S head, making them both crash to the ground.

It turned its head to see him where he stood on its chest, opening its mouth to charge up another energy blast. Not giving it a change, Cloud activated an Ice materia and used it to cover the open mouth, quickly jumping back as the pressure exploded along with the WEAPON'S head.

The explosion sent Cloud flying into one of the few still-standing buildings, making it collapse as well.

He slowly stood, looking at the site of the battle. The giant monster lay headless alongside the gaping hole it had dug. Cloud recovered his sword from the wreckage and made his way over to the crater.

He leant his blond head over the edge, staring down into the darkness. Suddenly a light shone down from beside him, and he turned to see the Highwind lowering itself down onto a clear patch. An anxious Tifa jumped down from the bridge, running over to Cloud with the others following suit.

Barret stopped by the WEAPON, shaking his head and looking up to Cloud. "What did you get yourself into this time?" Yuffie shrieked at him, nearly pushing him into the hole.

He ignored her, looking back down into the hole. With the light from the ship he could see burned and cracked tubes, with green liquid dribbling from them. Burnt bodies littered the ground, each with a metal tag pinned into the red skin.

"Are they…?" Tifa whispered beside him, staring at the tags. Cloud nodded, his enhanced eyes picking out the codes from the list.

Vincent put a metal hand onto his shoulder, turning him to face him. "Did you attack it?" He asked quietly, gesturing to the fallen monster. He frowned when the blond shook his head. "Then why would it attack you? The WEAPONS' are supposed to protect all living things on the planet."

Cloud's eyes narrowed, as he remembered the whispers before it had attacked.

"Because the planet told it to."

Tifa gasped disbelievingly, staring at him with wide eyes. "All those experiments down there had one connection. And they share that connection with me." He explained slowly, trying to absorb the information himself.

"Jenova. The planet is trying to get rid of her, and to do that she needs to get rid of me as well."

Vincent's red eyes narrowed, and he thought of the years past. "But you're her champion. She needed you because you had her cells."

Cloud closed his own, resting against a broken pillar. "It doesn't matter. Remember Geostigma?" The others made noises of agreement, not understanding where this was leading.

"They all had Jenova in their body. They were normal people with only small amounts, yet they hurt the planet immensely. I'm not normal, and I have huge amounts of the cells. I could probably kill her if I lost control over them."

The others shared in shock, Cid swore loudly.

Tifa shook her head violently. "The planet would never try to get rid of you! I'm sure the WEAPON just thought you were going to try to stop him!" Tears started to well up in her eyes and she shook.

Cloud just sighed, letting reality sink in.

The planet wanted it dead.

Even after the main body had been destroyed, and it's main force sucked away into the lifestream, it wanted every trace of its existence to disappear from the surface.

Most of all, it wanted him dead.

**-To Be Continued.**

**Not as long as I wanted it to be… but that's because I was going to add much much more. The section I was going to put in will be the first part of the next chapter.**

**Please Review! And thanks for the Alerts and Favorites!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**This took longer than it should have. I sprained my wrist so everything takes a good 500 times longer to do. That and summer school, combined with a little laziness.**

**Thank you everyone who has left comments, selected as a favorite or put this story on their alert list. It means a great deal to me! Also, thank you everyone for over 2,000 views.**

**Notice: I am looking for a Beta for this story. I would search for one myself, but I would really prefer it if the person was someone who already is enjoying this story. If you are interested, please send me a message and I will take a look at your Beta profile. Please don't be offended if I say no! I'm an extremely picky person when it comes to my writing and letting someone see it when I am unsure of it is a big deal for me! Thank you.**

**By the way, I have this fear that I didn't reply to someone's comment… If it was whoever is reading this.. I am very sorry!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the angst-filled chocobo head.**

Reeve Tuesti gazed, concerned, at the group in front of him.

He, like the rest of Midgar and its inhabitants, had felt the tremors that had woken them from their beds. He had tried to contact other members of WRO both in and out of the city center, but was not able to reach any of them. He had watched in the dark, as the Shinra building in the distance collapsed with a shadow towering over it.

The next morning, he found himself on the Highwind, staring down at the body of the planet's WEAPON.

He sighed, looking once more at the disheveled group filling up his tiny office.

"Explain to me again." Reeve started slowly. "Why do you believe that the one out for your blood this time is the planet?"

He smiled to himself as Cloud groaned, not wanting to repeat himself one more.

Cloud leaned back in the chair he was currently stationed on, staring up at the ceiling so he could avoid the other's gazes. While a few, mainly Vincent, had understood his reasons for thinking that Gaia had made the WEAPON attack him, some, mainly Tifa, were adamant about the opposite and refused to believe it.

Reeve clearly hadn't decided whether or not he was telling the truth or if he had finally lost it after going through the lifestream one too many times.

"The planet wants Jenova gone. I have Jenova cells. End of story." He replied curtly, his irritation easily heard. He cringed mentally when Tifa began to voice her complaints, but the WRO leader silenced her and looked at him over his folded hands. "You've had them for almost 10 years. The only things that are related to all this that have tried to kill you are the remnants, Jenova herself and Sephiroth."

"And Shinra."

"And Shinra." Reeve acknowledged. "But that doesn't matter. The fact is, the planet never tried to kill you then, and there is no reason for it to start now. Coincidentally, there was no reason for it to start going after Jenova cells at this time in the first place. For the first time in 10 years, Gaia is not at risk."

"If she's smart then she's having a nap somewhere." Barret laughed, but stopped when he realized that the others were too preoccupied to care.

They sat in silence, until Cloud spoke once more, uncertainty in his voice.

"She's not at risk. But she's probably afraid that she will be if she lets her greatest enemy stay on her surface." He looked at the others, realizing that they thought her greatest enemy was still Sephiroth. "Look, if you had a large group of enemies coming at you, and there was one strong member who was in your reach, would you go after him first, or go to the small fry?" He looked to the ninja to his right, and as expected, she answered him. "Well obviously you'd just go after the big guy; otherwise he'd just kill you while you were fighting the weaklings!" Yuffie jumped up and down, happy that she got to answer, till the reality of what she had just said.

"Exactly." Cloud smiled grimly, watching realization dawn on the others in the room. "The planet probably feels that I am the greatest threat to it at the moment, but it most likely doesn't want to have to go and hunt me down. If it did, it would hurt all the people in Edge. That would almost send one of it's species to extinction."

He continued. "So when I came close to the WEAPON, Gaia basically upped my priority and told it to get rid of me first. She probably believed I was going to stop her WEAPONs from destroying the other experiments."

Reeve frowned, looking at the list of experiments that Cloud had brought him. He noted that almost three fourths of the codes had been confirmed as destroyed.

A voice spoke up from the back corner of the room. "And what happens when the planet runs out of experiments?" Vincent warned. "It will send it's WEAPONs here. Extinction or no."

He sat there, thinking. Cloud didn't know what he would do if it did come to that.

"That won't happen!" A shaking voice broke him from his thoughts, and he looked up to see Tifa, staring fiercely at him. "We don't even have any proof that any of this has to do with us! The planet probably just made a mistake and attacked Cloud while it was getting rid of the old things. She can't be after him! Gaia chose him as her champion!"

They stared at her as she panted, her anger showing on her face.

"Tifa." Cloud started, beginning to stand up.

Reeve interrupted him. "No, Cloud. She's right." He sighed, looking at him firmly. "We don't know anything right now. For all we know, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. You do tend to be more than the rest of us."

He shook his head and stood up, walking past the others to the door.

Vincent stood aside as the SOLDIER exited the room. He turned to look at the rest of the members of their group.

"Reeve, Tifa. Nothing that has to do with Jenova and the planet is ever a coincidence."

The man at the desk sighed and put his head in his hands. He knew that.

Cloud sat against the wall in the hallway. He leant his head back and banged it into the wall a few times.

Looking out the window, he could just see the ruins of the Shinra building, and the edge of the WEAPON. He sighed and turned his head away.

He knew that he was right. He was the closest thing left on the planet to Sephiroth. Jenova could influence him the most and he was also one of the most powerful creatures on the surface. He was a threat. Gaia had every reason to want him gone.

Looking at his arm, he remembered when the geostigma had made him lost control from time to time. He didn't want to imagine what a large dosage of it would have done to him.

A sound from behind him made him stand up. Cloud turned to see Nanaki exiting from the door and heading towards him. He sat back down when the red lion crouched on the floor and sighed again.

Bright yellow eyes looked at him and he closed his own, resting his head against the wall. "They're discussing how they will check the hard to reach laboratories." He told him, looking out the window at the ruins. "Cid is going to take the highwind to some of the island ones, and Vincent and Yuffie will go together to the others."

Cloud chuckled. "I'm sure he just loves that idea."

"He voiced his displeasure. Not that the others could hear him over her shrieking." Nanaki rested his head on his paws and closed his eyes, letting him think of what he would do next.

Suddenly, an image of mako filled tubes filled his vision, along with the twisted figures of the humans and beasts modified with her cells. He blinked and lifted his head.

"What about the Niebelheim lab?" His friend opened his eyes and stared at him in confusion, before a voice sounded from beside them.

"It's probably not there anymore."

Cloud looked up to see Barret and Vincent walking towards them, with others a little ways behind. Barret reached a hand down and pulled him up, clapping him on the back. "Cheer up spike! Anything in there must have been destroyed by the fire back then."

He frowned, not remembering if the flames had ever reached the mansion, or the reactor.

He stopped in his tracks. Looking back to Reeve, he caught the man's attention and they stopped. "Was the Mako reactor in Niebelheim destroyed?" The man paused, trying to remember if it had been on the list of existing reactors. "I think so. I believe that Hojo had it disposed of after he had been there to collect you." He cringed, remembering the events leading up to that "Collection" and after.

"Any others that you aren't sure of?" Reeve shook his head, and started moving to catch up to the others. "Stop thinking about it. Chances are, it'll be all over soon anyway."

He nodded, unsure, and Cloud turned around once more to continue outdoors

They left the building, and he looked up towards the north, and to his old home. He could still remember the mountains and the small village. Being with Tifa, his instructor and all the other's from his hometown. He could the remember fact that only the two of them were left even better.

He sighed. Somehow, Cloud knew he would have to go back there soon.

**-To be Continued.**

**By the time this chapter was finished, my wrist was healed and my ankle was twisted.**

**Slowly making each chapter longer than the last….. Takes too much work.**

**Please remember that if you want to Beta that you have to message me! Thank you.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Thank you everyone for the reviews! I apologize in advance for this chapter; I had very little time to write it and no time at all to edit it, so it's slightly shorter and not as well written. Please bear with me.**

**There is a minor time gap between this and the last chapter. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything.**

**Warning: This chapter contains scenes of violence.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or its characters.**

Tifa pulled several children from the streets and ushered them into her bar, other citizens following them into the building.

She stopped at the doorway, wiping sweat off her face as she surveyed the large room.

Dozens of people were crammed onto each surface; on tables, floor and the bar. Children cried loudly over the quiet murmur of scared voices. She sighed, closing her eyes and leaned against the frame when the ground shook and several screams escaped the crowd. Glancing through the open door way, she could barely see the large shadow slowly making its way to the city.

A loud beeping noise brought back her attention and she pulled out her PHS from her pocket.

"Tifa! I got a look at the thing." Cid's voice crackled from the machine, slightly affected by static. "It's not anywhere as big as the last one, but still big enough to do some serious damage. Its also got these big ass claws on it that I don't want to be anywhere near to." Tifa looked back at the shadow with a new light, seeing the outline of the large blades. "It'll take it maybe 10 minutes to make it to you if it stays this slow, but I wouldn't count on it. You guys ready over there yet?"

The sound of a motor caught her attention and she saw Cloud on his bike heading towards the bar with kids on the back. "Yeah, the last of the people are inside, and Cloud's here. You get out of there." She closed the PHS and walked outside to meet her friend.

He stopped and stepped off Fenrir, looking up at the WEAPON. Sighing, he shook his head and lifted the kids off. Turning towards Tifa, he pulled his goggles off.

"That's the last of them. Are we good to go?"

She nodded.

"It will follow me, so I think it would be best if I lead it to the wasteland on the other side of Midgar. Tell the others to head there."

He turned back to the bike, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"What will you do after this is all done? Since… they are going after you."

Cloud didn't reply, instead he pushed her hand off and sat back on his bike. She sighed and hugged him lightly.

"Be careful. Okay?"

He nodded and turned the engine on, before speeding away from Tifa.

"Why in the name of the Goddess do these things have to happen to you Spiky?" Barret yelled from the rock behind him. The machine gun on his arm sent another wave of bullets at the shell of the WEAPON, trying to cause some sort of damage.

A bright light appeared at its mouth and the group scattered, the ground they stood on moments before becoming enveloped in flames. The monster looked around the wreckage for the fighters, focusing its attention on the quickly moving body of Yuffie.

She ran in the opposite direction than Cloud, who used the distraction as a chance to jump onto its back. He ran up the spine towards the small head, quickly activating materia to support his attack. He brought his sword down onto the neck, eyes opening wide when it bounced back off. The WEAPON quickly turned its entire body, making Cloud fly off. A blade swung towards him and he brought up his sword to protect himself before a sharp pain erupted along his side.

Cid swore loudly when the Soldier crashed into the ground next to him. He pulled him up and swore again when he saw blood quickly pouring from a wound on his side.

"Cloud? You good?"

He got a grunt as a reply before he charged back towards the monster.

The sword smashed into an armored leg, cracking the shell and making a loud scream sound through the air. The WEAPON thrashed and fell to the ground when it could no longer support itself. From the corner of his eye, Cloud watched Yuffie thrust her weapon into a large yellow eye before being tossed off.

Jumping up onto the hard chest, he quickly pushed his sword into a juncture between the pieces of shell. Green liquid sprayed out as the monster tried to knock him off, splattering onto his clothes. Cloud shoved the sword further into it, until a high pitched wail escaped the WEAPON and it stilled.

Silence filled the destroyed wasteland as the members of AVALANCHE picked themselves up and stared at the fallen body.

"Cloud, is it dead?" Barret's voice echoed through the silence.

He sighed and nodded, before pulling his sword out. Jumping down from the creature, he pushed it back into its holder and made his way to the others.

Tifa watched the shadow fall in the distance, and heard the scream.

She rested her head against the window, ignoring the cries from the room behind her.

She had been wrong, and now Cloud would need to deal with even more problems. The enemy was a being that was a part of everything, he couldn't avoid it.

'Why?' She asked in her mind 'Why would you do this to him? He's your champion.'

The other members of the group arrived back at the bar just as the last people were leaving for their homes. Tifa looked at the group as they came in from the back. Quickly taking out the first aid kid, she pushed Cloud into a chair and worked on his side.

Cid made his way to the bar and pulled out a bottle of beer, before downing it immediately. He pulled out a cigarette and sat himself ungracefully onto one of the stools. "This is so fucked."

Barret snorted and grabbed another bottle. "You're making it seem nicer than it is." He stared at Cloud over the rim and shook his head. "What will you do now Spiky?"

Tifa looked up and watched him close his eyes and sigh.

"I'll go somewhere far away from people. After that, I'll just stay alive for as long as possible."

She frowned and finished patching up the cut, before moving over to sit next to Cid. Resting her head in her palms, she spoke quietly. "We'll get you enough supplies to keep going for a while, but you'll have to come back at least once to restock." The others stared at her in shock, believing that she would have been against his leaving. "You have to take a PHS with you, and you have to check in with us often to make sure you're okay."

Cloud nodded, and Tifa quickly wrote down a list of things that he would need.

Cid coughed loudly, and pointed at him. "I'll check up on you every once and a while with the Shera and bring you some stuff. Maybe even bring some people along to visit. You can't get away with being anti-social that easily."

The others laughed half-heartedly before relapsing back into silence.

Standing up, Cloud headed towards the staircase, looking back over his shoulder. "I'll go start to gather my things." He left the room.

Tifa stared after him, before following him up the stairs.

She stopped at the landing, watching him enter his room and slam the door. She sighed, walking over to the window. She stared out as it started to rain, looking North to the mountains in the distance.

'Aerith, Zack. Please help him.'

**-To Be Continued.**

**Any comments received after Friday might not be replied to very quickly, as I won't be anywhere close to a computer, instead being on vacation and ignoring everything else. I will reply to everything eventually.**

**I'll probably edit this after I get back.**

**I hope everyone like it!**

**[EDIT] Please read! I am have major difficutly writing the next chapter of this story! I have absolutely no idea when I will get it up, and most likely after I do I will take a short break to get everything back on track. Please bear with me until then!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Oh dear. This is a bit different than usual. I have realised that my writing style seemed to drastically change since the last update. On that note, I sincerely apologize for the lateness of this chapter. It was a fucking drag. **

**Just filling in some stuff, this chapter was initially supposed to be totally different and follow Cloud on the road, but writing traveling is a lot harder than I thought it would be (Something to strive towards I guess). Just too much happened and I never got around to making it look good, so I scrapped it and started over.**

**Fun Fact (Because I wrote this section before because I was putting off the story): I had a birthday over the period of writing this XD. That says something…. **

**Also, I have been threatened repeatedly by a certain crazy Asian at school for not updating this. You know who you are. Be happy and go eat a cupcake or something.**

**NOTE: After this chapter I shall be taking a short hiatus. It will be somewhere between a few months to half a year, though more likely the former. I have at least seven oneshots to post and a short chapter story to write. That should get my mind back on track. Till then, Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all of it's characters are property of Square Enix**

Cloud was surprised to find that he woke up screaming.

His body was in a cold sweat and his head hurt. He couldn't see clearly.

The sky was too bright.

Rubbing his eyes, he looked back at the sky. His eyes widened when he realized that the brightness in the sky was not his imagination. Piercing the blackness of night were three glowing green beams of light.

"The fuck?"

The lights thinned and disappeared, but in their place was a strange pull in his body, something which he could not understand. Cloud grasped his sword from its spot lying next to him and strapped on his sheath, slipping the blade inside.

Moving to the edge of the small clearing he had camped himself in for the last few days, he pulled several large leaves to the side to reveal Fenrir. Gripping around the handlebars, he pulled it out of its hiding space and pushed it towards the open grass.

Since he had arrived here, to the outskirts of Nibelheim, Cloud had stayed in the small area he had deemed safe, never straying to the actual town.

Every night he had stared up at the slightly elevated ground to the South of him; at the large shadow of the mansion against the mountainside, and the eerie reactor at the top of the plateau. There he had seen the bright beams of light fade into.

Revving his engine, he slowly drove through the dense trees until he reached the old broken road. Turning South, he let the bike roar and sped down towards his old hometown.

Cloud only looked straight ahead when he drove through the empty main street.

Quickly swerving around the center monument, he sped through the gates and began driving up the winding path to the reactor. The wheels on Fenrir skidded and groaned as the fine sand beneath them slipped away, and he was forced to slow his ascent.

After what had felt like hours, the reactor loomed into his view.

Cloud parked the bike and pulled an extra sword from his inventory, sliding it behind his larger weapon. He quietly shut the compartment door and let his hand rest on the black metal, sighing. Finally he turned and walked towards the metal building.

He opened the door, wincing when it made a loud squeal. He stayed there for a few moments, before finally slipping inside. Glancing around the familiar area, he couldn't help the feelings of dread and familiarity at that place.

Shaking his head, he quickly moved towards the staircase, but stilled when a shadow passed across the green light emitted by the mako tubes lining the wall. Waiting for a few more moments, he made his way upstairs, moving around the corner after the shadow and down the large hallway.

His footsteps clattered loudly on the metal grating, and he hoped in vain that no one was there to hear him.

Turning another corner, a half opened doorway caught his attention. Through the gap a strange green glow flickered and slowly dimmed. Moving towards the wall beside it, he gently nudged the door open completely, before looking into the room.

Cloud stared across the room at the three glowing objects. As he moved further inside, he saw that they were large, human sized rocks, and judging by the large crevices that split each one, had held some things his size.

However, whatever had been residing there was nowhere in sight.

Lifting a gloved hand to the smallest of the three rocks, he carefully let it touch the side, before letting out a gasp,

Through the leather he could feel the familiar presence of the lifestream, and while that would normally comfort him, in his current situation it could not mean anything good.

Turning away, he quickly stalked down the hallway from which he had come, intent on getting as far away from here as he could. He stopped at the staircase, glancing back one time at the glowing room when he heard a noise.

From the hallway opposite from which he came, the distinct noise of human voices through a door reached his ears.

Moving quickly, he sped down the hallway, stopping when the voices were heard more clearly from a door next to him. They quieted suddenly and he heard footsteps leave, presumably through into another room.

When he felt that whoever or whatever had been in there was gone, he slowly opened the door and walked inside.

The room was once a small records room, but the papers were long gone. At the back corner a doorway led to the way to possibly more record rooms. Cloud started to head towards the doorway when the open door behind him slammed shut.

Whirling around, he placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. His eyes widened when he saw a large man with short silver hair leaning against the wall. He ground his teeth and began to pull the weapon from the hilt.

"Wait, Brother."

Another man with long hair emerged from the shadows of a corner. When he pulled the sword further out, he stopped and held his hands up. "We mean you no harm Brother." He turned towards the large man. "Loz, go get Kadaj."

Cloud gripped the hilt harder when Loz walked by him, smirking at the blond's hostility. He walked through the doorway.

Yazoo turned back to the fighter, moving slowly towards him. "We will not attack you unless you initiate the fight. We merely have a proposition for you." Cloud lowered the sword slightly, turning towards him.

"A… Proposition." Yazoo nodded his head, moving slightly closer. "About our current predicament."

Raising his eyebrows in confusion, Cloud nearly jumped out of his skin when a voice sounded behind him.

"You see Brother, just like you, the lifestream no longer wants us around."

Cloud spun around and narrowed his eyes when Kadaj stepped out into the light. "So we would all benefit if we were to band together to survive Gaia's wrath."

He suppressed a burst of laughter at the young clone staring at him. "You want me to band together with you."

The clones nodded, and he sighed.

**- To Be Continued.**

**Excellent place to leave people hanging.**

**So I will be on a break, but I will still be writing this story. I'm just putting slightly less focus on it for a little while so I can get some other things done. Feel free to continue to give me awesome comments and suggestions!**

**Thank you for all the amazing feedback!**


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